In the Heat of the Game
by sapphirestars
Summary: Heiji and Kazuha... enjoy a baseball game together.


Disclaimer: Yes, I am in fact the proud owner of Detective Conan and Heiji and Kazuha. Jealous, aren't you? (insert sarcasm) No, I clearly am not the owner or creator or any other variation of the word.

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In the Heat of the Game

_For Fireblazie-chan_

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For Heiji's birthday, Kazuha had been so kind as to get him a pair of tickets to a baseball game. Kazuha was _not_ a baseball fan but it was the highly anticipated game between Osaka and Tokyo and Heiji had been waiting for months for this game. He was all set to watch it on television, after he had resigned himself to the fact that he was unable to get tickets. He had waited much too long to stand in line with the rest of the fans, what with putting deduction ahead of athletics.

But Kazuha was brilliant in that way. She had known that the stupid ahou (yes she knew it was redundant, thanks very much) would put his mysteries ahead of the game he had been anticipating, since Osaka had lost to Tokyo the year before. She had heard him bragging to Kudo-kun that this year Tokyo was 'going down.' She had rolled her eyes of course; there was no point in bragging to Kudo-kun. He was a soccer buff; if Heiji were to insult _that_…well _then_ there'd be fireworks.

But that was beside the point. The point being that Kazuha was a kind, considerate and beyond all _clever_ friend to have. Not that Heiji would ever admit it of course. Case in point: the presentation of the tickets.

On Heiji's birthday, Kazuha had wished her best friend a happy birthday but had kept the tickets to herself for the remainder of the school day. It was a tad childish but Kazuha wanted to see his reaction when they were alone. If she were to give them to him in class, everyone would crowd around and start asking who he'd take and what not. And the annoying fan girls would bat their eyes and push her out of the way. Not that Kazuha wouldn't push back but…

Anyhow, as they were walking home from school, Kazuha stopped in her tracks causing Heiji to turn and look at her. "What are you doing? And why are you smiling?" He looked at her with his eyebrow raised.

But Kazuha's grin only grew. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand!"

Heiji rolled his eyes. "What for? I know what you're going to give me!" Kazuha's eyes widened in shock. "What? How do you know? I was so careful! There's no way-"

"Oi, relax! You're giving me my birthday gift! Obviously…you get me something every year!" Hitching his schoolbag over his shoulder, Heiji grinned smugly.

"Ahou, but you don't know what it is! So close your eyes and hold out your hand like I told you." She scowled and seriously began to consider giving him the gift.

"All right, all right." And Heiji shut his eyes. She tested him by waving her fingers near his eyes. Nothing. Didn't even flinch. Reaching into her schoolbag she took out a small green box with a gold ribbon and placed it on his palm. "Ok, open your eyes." She stepped back in anticipation.

Heiji opened his eyes and examined the package. "Huh." He muttered and began to untie the ribbon; it was all Kazuha could do to keep from shouting 'hurry up!' Finally, he opened the box and Kazuha watched his jaw drop.

He looked down at her. "Are…are these?" He broke off and Kazuha nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! See! Two tickets! You can go with your dad or Kudo-kun. Or one of your friends from kendo. Or even Otaki-keibu!" She wasn't lying either. The only times she'd ever gone with Heiji to a baseball game were when their families were going together or the Mouris were in town. Besides this was his birthday gift, she'd never force herself on him.

But Heiji just looked at her curiously and Kazuha gave a shy smile. "What? Do you not want them? I knew you couldn't get tickets so…"

"Of course I want them, idiot." But the insult wasn't harsh; he was smiling at her as well. "But you're the one I'm taking."

Now Kazuha's jaw dropped. "W-what? But you don't have to take me just because I bought the tickets!" Heiji just watched her amused. Blinking rapidly, she cleared her throat. "You're always saying I don't know anything about baseball!"

"I know. And you don't." At this Kazuha scowled. "But I want to take you. It'll be fun." He looked at her and grinned.

Kazuha just watched him carefully but then her face broke into a grin. "Ok! It'll be fun and I can pack lunches and-" she went on as they got closer to their homes.

When they reached her stop, he turned. "Well, game's tomorrow. I'll see you bright and early. Get some sleep or you'll have bags under your eyes…and then you'll never get a man!"

"Ahou! I don't have bags under my eyes and who says I need a guy!" Kazuha shouted and crossed her arms. Then Heiji leaned in. "Thanks for the tickets, Kazuha."

She was sure that her face was turning red. But then he stepped back and looked thoughtful. "You know…you should probably pick up 'Baseball for Dummies'…wouldn't want to make an idiot out of yourself now would you?" He grinned cheekily.

"Ahou!" But he was already walking away and gave her a wave as he went. But she didn't stay mad. Forcing back a giant grin from breaking through, she hummed happily and skipped inside.

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The next morning, Kazuha was rushing around for sunscreen, her cell phone and her Osaka baseball cap when she heard a distinctly male voice ringing out.

"Ahou! It's a baseball game not a friggin' fashion show! Come on!" Heiji paced heavily by the door, checking his watch every five seconds and tugging at his cap. He looked towards her room at the top of the stairs. "We are going to be late!"

"Ahou, the game starts at three! Its nine o'clock in the morning! We're fine!" She shouted back. Kazuha found her cap behind a pile of books; it was light blue with the team's insignia. She shut the door to get dressed and heard his swearing at the sound of it. The idiot had arrived an hour ago when she was just stepping out of the shower and she'd only had time to shrug on some sweats and a t-shirt before answering.

When she was done, she ran a comb through her hair and decided to leave it down since she was wearing the cap. Swinging the door open she cried out. "I'm ready!"

"Finally, I've got one foot in the grave!" Kazuha rolled her eyes; dismissing his rudeness just this once. As she hoisted her bag on her opposite shoulder, she jogged down the stairs and awaited another rude comment from Heiji's mouth but she looked up and saw that his expression was slightly glazed over.

"Heiji? Hello? Anyone home? I thought you wanted to leave." Kazuha placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Your hair. It's down." He said quietly. Kazuha raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. I want to support the team and I can't really wear my ponytail comfortably with this cap. What are you waiting for? Lets go, I thought you wanted to be there early!"

Heiji seemed to come back to his senses. "Of course, and if you hadn't taken so long we'd be there by now. But that's your fault, ahou. Let's go then." And he strolled on ahead of her and Kazuha huffed along and locked the door behind her.

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Moving through the aisle, Heiji reached their seats and Kazuha sat beside him and dropped her bag into her lap. She noticed the proximity to the field. "Wow, these are good seats!" Heiji rolled his eyes at her. "You bought the tickets; didn't you know that already?"

Kazuha shook her head. "Nope. One of dad's assistants bought them for me. But it was my idea so you'd better not think I just asked around for a good gift!" She lifted her chin up defiantly.

Heiji smiled to himself and shifted his head slightly to look at her. Her wavy dark hair spilled around her shoulders and it shook and swayed every single time she craned her head to look around the field. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he looked back at the field. What was _wrong_ with him? Ever since his birthday, she had looked so… _different_ to him. Granted this wasn't the first time this had ever happened, but since that day every single time he looked at Kazuha…

"Heiji? Are you listening to me? See, I told you that we'd gotten here way too early! The game doesn't start for another two hours!"

Heiji scowled in return. "If we'd gotten here any later there would have been a huge crowd to get inside! Did you see the Tokyo fans? Friggin' maniacs."

"Well, you can't blame them. Aren't they ahead in standing right now?" Kazuha asked.

"Aho! Don't say that aloud!" Heiji elbowed her. Sure enough, the more violent and enthusiastic Osaka fanatics were proceeding to glare at Kazuha. Mutterings were heard throughout the crowd, and an embarrassed Kazuha slouched down in her seat. Heiji glared back at the crowd. "Give it a rest! She doesn't know anything about all this!"

Kazuha turned and frowned at him. "Oh, thanks a lot!"

"What are you talking about? I was sticking up for you!"

"You weren't sticking up for me! You were insulting me!"

"Ahou! The only way they weren't going to keep giving you a hard time is if I claimed that you didn't know anything about baseball. You don't anyway, so why you're getting bent out of shape is beyond me." Heiji sighed and slid back into his seat.

"Fine. Thanks." Kazuha replied curtly but she snuck a look at him anyway and smiled to herself.

Soon enough the game started, _after_ Kazuha successfully kept Heiji and a rogue Tokyo fan by their seats from going to blows, and Heiji was intently following the game. His bright green eyes would flash violently whenever Tokyo hit a homerun, which they were doing quite a bit of, Kazuha noticed.

For her part, Kazuha particularly amused herself with watching the antics of the crazed fans. They wore their respective team's colors from head to toe and many were covered in paint in said colors. But the excitement was contagious and before long, Kazuha found herself cheering and jumping up and down alongside Heiji every time the batter made contact with the ball.

By the bottom of the fifth inning, however, Tokyo had a clear lead (three to one) and several of the Osaka fans were growing surly. As Kazuha looked around the stadium she could see several of the fans being carted off by the police for rowdy behavior and clandestine alcohol. Shaking her head, she continued in cheering and squealing in delight whenever Toyo struck out.

But as another inning passed, Osaka didn't seem to be picking up the pace. And to make things worse it seemed as if the umpire had issues with the Osaka team.

"HE WAS SAFE, DAMMIT!" Heiji shouted and pounded his fist on the seat in front of him. Kazuha's eyes widened as several of the nearby fans were engaging in colorful cursing, much of which had to do with where Tokyo could stick their bats.

Kazuha refrained from yelling, "It's just a game!" Somehow she didn't think she'd win any popularity points.

Heiji slumped back into his seat and Kazuha bit back a giggle. He looked so adorable. He was clearly taking the game very personally; his lips pouted and arms crossed in a boyish tantrum.

Kazuha nudged him. "Hey, sorry they're losing." She gave him a sympathetic smile.

Heiji looked at her in surprise. "Nah, it's all right. It's still a really good game. Thanks for the tickets." He flashed a bright smile and Kazuha blushed in response.

In an attempt to cover it up, she nudged him again. "Well, cheer up! The game is still young…or relatively young! We can still win!" Heiji opened his mouth to reply when the crowd began to cheer loudly and they looked to see Osaka's Matsumoto Kira _and _Hamaguchi Hideo running through the bases.

They jumped up in response and Heiji punched a fist in the air. "YES! YES! TWO HOMERUNS! TWO" Heiji shouted and Kazuha whistled loudly. He turned and grinned excitedly at her. "We're closing in, you see that! We can still win!"

Kazuha couldn't help but smile widely at his enthusiasm, his face and eyes were glowing and his hair was messy from the constant placement and removal of his cap. And Kazuha suddenly had a very strong urge to just the _grab_ the idiot and…

Well no, she couldn't do that. But she was wishing they were _a lot_ closer.

Instead, she turned her attention back to the game, readjusted her hat and began to cheer wildly again in hopes that they'd score another homerun.

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The seventh inning passed with one homerun to Tokyo and this had caused several angry shouts. But as they entered the eighth, the stadium grew uncharacteristically quiet in its tension and Heiji dug his nails in the sides of the seat or, to his embarrassment, would grab Kazuha's arm in reflex, which usually ended in his blushing apologies.

But he couldn't help it. Even though Heiji was beyond invested in the game, he couldn't keep himself from stealing glances in her direction. Kazuha was positively sparkling in excitement. He had never seen her so into a game before! She was jumping up and down (and Heiji suddenly found himself greatly appreciating the technology of a fitted black t-shirt) and would cheer for the players and shout angrily at the umpire. While he strongly suspected that she didn't get every aspect of the game, she was certainly trying her hardest to learn.

"YES!" Kazuha shouted and Heiji turned back to the game. Tokyo had struck out and it was Osaka's turn to bat. Heiji grabbed at his hat in anticipation and while the batter made it to first base after two strikes not much happened. After such an exciting start to the game, both teams seemed to grow rigid with stress with the surrounding pressure from the fans.

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But finally they were in the ninth inning, unless Osaka tied... Heiji didn't think he could stand it as Tokyo took the field. He turned his cap forward and Kazuha looked at him quizzically. "Have to focus." He said simply and she patted his hand in response; he felt electricity shoot through him.

Tokyo failed to score another run and the crowd grew jubilant in response. Leaning forward into his seat, Heiji wrung his hands in a mixture of frustration and excitement. But Kazuha turned to him. "We can do this. We can." She said determinedly and Heiji suddenly relaxed.

The score was still four to three. "Two more! Come on, damn it all!" Heiji yelled, feeling his voice grow hoarse. The bottom of the ninth arrived and Osaka was up to bat. Kazuha was clapping loudly and several women could be heard shouting "If you hit a homerun, I'll marry you!" After three pitches the first batter struck out, and Heiji groaned in his response and Kazuha sat back somewhat dejected. But the next batter swung and made it to second base as Osaka's crowd was on their feet. The next batter struck out twice but finally made full contact and for a moment it seemed as it would go out of the park but instead was caught by a centerfielder but there were runners on third and second. The next batter might be the deciding factor.

It was Hamaguchi Hideo at bat again and Heiji reached reflexively for Kazuha's hand but neither noticed as they waited. It seemed that it might go on for quite a bit because he gathered up two balls, a strike and a foul.

Heiji clutched at his cap's brim, but never let go of Kazuha's hand. As she glanced up at him, his gaze was slightly wild looking and seemed to be on the brink of jumping down into the field and showing Hamaguchi how to swing a bat.

The crowd quieted as the pitcher stood very still and both the batter and pitcher seemed to be sizing each other up. Focusing everything he had into this very pitch, he threw the fastball and Hamaguchi struck, the sound radiating throughout the field.

It went high into the air and for several quiet moments the stadium fervor seemed to stall. But it began to drop…

"GO! Out of the park! COME _ON_!" Heiji hollered and Kazuha bit her lip in wide-eyed anxiety.

Tokyo began to cheer as an outfielder began the race to catch the ball. But he miscalculated and the ball fell into the stands and the two players on bases ran in for their homeruns. The game ended 5-4.

"YES! YES!" Heiji jumped up wildly and he took hold of Kazuha, hugging her tightly. She grinned at his enthusiasm and cheered again, waving her cap wildly in the air. But then Heiji's hands reached for her waist, hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of her jeans and pressed his lips to hers.

After the initial shock, Kazuha overcame her astonishment and reciprocated eagerly. She clutched his shoulders and turned her head slightly to deepen the kiss. The happy cheers and noisiness only served to spur the kiss on and it was only due to lack of oxygen that they broke apart.

Kazuha stepped back a bit, her mouth still parted. "What was-"

But Heiji just grinned. "Thank you for the gift." And before she could respond, he pressed another searing kiss to her mouth but broke away to cheer for Osaka again. Kazuha laughed gleefully and then proceeded to whistle for the team; Heiji smiled as he put an arm around her waist.

Rolling her eyes, she leaned against him ever so slightly. "Ahou."

It seemed like things had changed _quite_ quickly.

But that was baseball for you.

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**The End**

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Sapphire Stars' Notes: This was actually written as a gift to Fireblazie-chan, who so kindly created a beautiful video for me about Shinichi and Ran. So, this is my gift back to you, Fireblazie-chan!

Yes, I do know that their little kiss at the end might have been a bit fast but people do some crazy things at baseball games... or any sports event. Something in the air, probably. This is just my little way of getting them together without any floweriness or prolonged declarations of love, which weren't appropriate for this fic but can totally rock in another. Thanks for reading and kindly review!

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